Over the years , as a Buddhist practitioner and minister; as well as a Licensed Social Worker; I have been very disheartened when I hear people talk about “Buddhist Therapy.” It is because it is never Buddhist AND therapy. When I read the literature over the years, I have seen many great Buddhist scholars talk about […]

Last Sunday, we (at the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center) had a great opportunity to meet and learn from Dr. Bhikkhuni Kusuma, a senior Buddhist nun from Sri Lanka. Everybody who came to this event enjoyed her engaging sermon and meditation. Moreover, everybody was impressed to see her energy at the age of 84 to disseminate […]

I am so overjoyed at the growing interest in Buddhism. As a practice, it has been proven over the past 2,600 years that the Buddha truly understood the nature of the world and his enlightened teachings have been the path for countless others to understand the nature of dukkha (discontentment) and how to reduce or […]

The Buddha was not born the Buddha. Historically, it is accepted that his name was Siddhartha Gautama. He was born into a princely life kept away from worldly troubles and provided a life where he was to only to know pleasure. One day, Siddhartha left his castle with his charioteer. He came across an ill […]

One of the more challenging concepts to address for a Christian practicing Buddhism is the answer to the question “is there a soul if there is ‘no self’?” I believe there is an answer, but can I provide it without writing a very long book? Let’s see if I can make the argument! I attempted […]

I have received a lot of comments over my article “Can you Be A Christian Buddhist?” They have brought on the two big questions I will attempt to answer next, “Can there Be A God in Buddhism?” and “Can you have a Buddhist soul?” My talking and teaching over the past two years as taught […]

I hear the words bandied about “traditional marriage.” And as a minister, I get asked, “What is the Buddhist position on same-sex marriage?” What would Buddha say? In truth, the Buddha would probably respond to the question with another question, “How does this issue lead to the understanding of suffering and the cessation of suffering?” […]

This is the question of all questions. If the Buddha was happy growing up he never would have left his castle, his riches, his wife and child. Studying faith and religion didn’t make him happy. Suffering and starving to cleanse himself didn’t make him happy. There is a general unhappiness that comes from living. The […]

Reverend Sumitta, Is the difference between Buddhism and Christianity that Buddhism starts without belief and Christianity starts with belief? Dear Dhamma-follower, The best explanation I give for Buddhism compared to theistic faiths is that Buddhism is a practice of realization and theistic faiths are ones of revelation. They both have faith/belief. Faith means to have […]

THE MIND IS VERY HARD TO SEE…. This instruction was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to a certain discontented monk. We are told that while the Teacher was in residence at Sāvatthī, a certain treasurer’s son approached an elder who resorted to his house for alms and […]

We are feeling creatures. Our feelings frame our reality. What we believe to be true is what we feel to be true. We accept facts or dismiss them based on how we feel about them. We assign value to words based on how we feel about them, and then assign value to people based on […]

In trying to understand Buddhism, there is almost always one inevitable question: What happens once we die? Normally, I rebuttal this question with a question, “Why are we focused on the next life when there is so much work to do in liberating this life?” However, since the question comes up over and over again, […]

I was speaking with a fellow minister of my order and I asked him what work he was doing. He is working as an Army Chaplain and he replied “I am reminding an infantry company to remain mindful and to bring the spiritual into their training. It’s an uphill battle.” Of course, he is a […]